Author: Fintech News Singapore

Visa is calling on the payments industry to accelerate the availability of Tap to Phone solutions in order to bring more micro and small businesses into the digital economy. Tap to Phone enables sellers to accept Visa contactless payments directly on their own Android NFC-enabled smartphones, without the need for a separate payment acceptance terminal. This eliminates the need for expensive point-of-sale infrastructure. The Visa Asia Pacific Tap to Phone study was conducted by YouGov research between 16 to 20 July 2020, among 6,832 adults ages 18+ in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan. The research found that the majority (55%) of Asia Pacific consumers would likely…

DBS announced today the launch of a digital solution called “Map Your Money” which features an interactive dashboard whic can project a customer’s future retirement needs based on their current finances. Alongside the new tool, DBS is also introducing a retirement planning portal that helps customers to better understand estate planning topics, with access to relevant services such as CPF nomination, will writing, and setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA). The “Map Your Money” function, which will be progressively rolled out from 2 August, pulls together customers’ existing assets held within and outside DBS, and projects their future…

Singapore based fintech startup GoBear announced that it has laid off 11% of its workforce across its offices in Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and Ukraine. A total of 22 staff members have been retrenched from its 200 strong workforce. GoBear’s CEO, Adrian Chng said in a statement that they had to “adapt our business to overcome challenges and future-proof it” and focus on “growth engines of digital lending and digital insurance brokerage”. He further added that this measure was done as a “last resort”. In 2016, GoBear attempted to expand its market to Malaysia with limited success as it struggles to…

Singapore Exchange (SGX), working together with HSBC Singapore and Temasek, has completed its first digital bond issuance on SGX’s digital asset issuance, depository and servicing platform, successfully replicating a S$400 million 5.5-year public bond issue and a follow-on S$100 million tap of the same issue by Olam International. An Asia first for a syndicated public corporate bond, this digital bond marks another milestone in SGX’s use of digital asset technology, by streamlining processes for issuers, underwriters, investors and ecosystem participants across primary issuance and asset servicing. SGX utilised DAML, the smart contract language created by Digital Asset, to model the…

Multiple UN agencies have joined hands with Copenhagen Fintech to bring Nordic fintech startups to Singapore to promote the exchange of innovation. The agencies involved are UNDP’s Global Center for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development in Singapore, UNDP’s Nordic Office and UNDP SDG Innovative Finance (UNSIF) in Bangkok. The program is meant to help fast-track their journey towards commercially scalable and sustainable impact-oriented ventures in the ASEAN region. Local startups tackling some of the world’s most urgent challenges and program partners will also be involved to foster new partnerships and even stronger ties between the two regions. Climate change and its…

ASEAN Plus Group (APG), a group of law firms in Asia, has released a comprehensive guide to payment services regulations in Asia Pacific (APAC). The document, maps the latest state-of-play in the payments space in some of ASEAN’s biggest markets and jurisdictions, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It also features countries with significant economies and key relationships with ASEAN countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, South Korea and Taiwan. For each country, the guide gives an overview of the current state of the domestic payment industry, the regulators in charge of overseeing the sector, the different…

Credit Suisse-backed and SME focused fintech Tradeplus24, has joined the Australian Finance Group’s panel of finance providers to offer its loan product. AFG is an Australian mortgage broking group, with 2,975 finance brokers that work with close to 7,500 Australians each month, many of whom will be able to offer said product. Tradeplus24 model uses insurance to underwrite a pool of SME’s account receivables. This removes risk for funders, and is said to enable it to offer simpler, more streamlined, lower cost, and lower risk lending. This will enable SMEs gain access to a more convenient and affordable way to…

Handling online payments is an ongoing challenge for any entrepreneur or business. There are dozens of options to explore, yet the industry lacks a universal solution. Too Many Options An IT firm, edtech startup or other forms of business growing across frontiers requires a reliable payment partner. This year’s global COVID-19 pandemic has shaken things up even more. Paytech providers uniting various payment options, such as xpate, will play an increasingly important role in streamlining solutions across the different verticals. Marketplace owners looking to handle payments, for example, have at least 27 different options to choose from. A plethora of…

Changing customer expectations, the rise of big techs, and COVID-19 are accelerating banks’ digital transformation, forcing them to upgrade their infrastructure to meet the requirements of the data-intensive era, experts said. At the Huawei APAC FSI Data Storage Summit virtual event, experts from Huawei and China Construction Bank Asia discussed the need for the financial services industry to respond rapidly to the long-lasting market changes that have been brought in by COVID-19. These not only include rising demand for contactless and remote services, but also includes changing working conditions. During a panel discussion on the future of banking, Johnny Chung,…

Fave, a fintech platform providing QR payments to restaurants and retailers, has announced a collaboration with DBS Bank and Singtel Dash to offer Singaporeans “more secure digital payment options”. DBS PayLah! and Singtel Dash users can transact digitally via the scanning of SGQR codes at Fave-partnered merchants to enjoy instant merchant cashback of up to 20%, starting from August and early September 2020 respectively. All existing merchants using FavePay QR payments will be extending their cashback to DBS PayLah! and Singtel Dash users. Since 2019, Fave merchants have issued over S$20 million in cashback for their customers through the FavePay…

Finastra has helped VPBank separate its treasury operations from its legacy core banking system with its Fusion Kondor and Fusion Risk solutions. Delivered through Finastra’s Fusion Adopt implementation program, this move to a modern system will enable the bank to grow its financial markets division by developing new complex products and improve operational efficiency through automation. “As an innovation leader in Vietnam’s banking sector, the digitisation and modernisation of our business is a key priority,” said Pham Phu Khoi, Head of Financial Markets Division, VPBank. “We also have ambitious plans for growth which our legacy core banking system could not…

Visa announced its Smarter Stand-in Processing (Smarter STIP), a new capability that uses real-time artificial intelligence (AI) to help financial institutions manage transaction authorisations when service disruptions occur. Using deep learning to analyse past transactions, Smarter STIP generates informed decisions to approve or decline transactions on behalf of issuers in the event that their systems go offline. Visa has harnessed the use of AI and neural networks to prevent fraud—Smarter STIP builds on that track record. It is said to be the first in a suite of new AI-powered innovations coming to VisaNet, its global processing network. “Consumers expect instant…

Investments in fintech companies in Asia-Pacific grew 9.1% to US$1.4 billion in the second quarter of 2020 when compared with the first quarter, according to the Q2 APAC Fintech Funding Report by S&P Global Market Intelligence.  Deal activity remained flat in the region, with 107 transactions recorded in both quarters. Fintech funding in Asia was predominantly led by South East Asia and Australia, with both regions drawing in US$455 million and US$369 million. This is roughly three-times and two-times the amount raised in the previous quarter respectively. Fintech investments in India declined 38% to US$339 million as the government continued…

We were joined by C-Levels of Hong Kong’s newly launched virtual banks as we discuss the impact of this new breed of banks in HK and beyond. Speakers: Adrian Tse, CEO, WeLab Bank Andrew Farmer, CIO, Mox by Standard Chartered Dr. Frederic Lau, CEO, Airstar Bank Frankie Wai, Head of Business Solutions Group, Greater China [Correction] In the start of the video we meant to say virtual banks having already launched in Hong Kong, not Singapore

Network for Electronic Transfers (NETS) plans to accelerate the development and delivery of its digital cross-border payment services, leveraging Singtel’s ConnectPlus Managed Network and Amazon Web Services’ (AWS’) cloud computing platform. This collaboration will pave the way for Singaporeans to make purchases at more retail outlets abroad in the region using NETS while foreign visitors will be able to seamlessly make payments to NETS’ merchants in Singapore using overseas e-wallets and services. Leveraging Singtel’s advanced network infrastructure and AWS’ cloud services like database, containers, serverless storage and security, NETS will be able to provide quick and localised connectivity for potential…

In financial services, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) is growing rapidly, bringing in a plethora of opportunities for customer experience and personalization. Yet, the question of regulation still lingers and must be addressed to tackle the potential risks of AI-driven processes and instill trust, experts said. In a panel discussion on the use of AI in financial services, experts from UnionBank, Money Lion, Silot and InterSystems discussed the current state of AI adoption and addressed the opportunities of AI in financial services as well as the current challenges hindering adoption. The session is made possible thanks to our sponsor…

Recently, a security firm looked into the apps available on Google Play Store and the App store stated that over 85% of those apps violates at least one security risk. About half of these applications had insecure data storage or were working with an insecure communication risk. Proper assessments can provide assurance on the security of mobile apps and APIs. By entrusting security concerns to experts, companies can actually save time and focus more on their primary concern which is making a profit. They reduce risks and implement actionable security measures to improve safety as well as meet the mandatory…

Asia is the largest market for digital payments and will maintain its leading position with an estimated 16% compounded annual growth (CAGR) rate through the first half of this decade, according to a new report by Singapore’s DBS Bank. In a report titled Digital Currencies: Public and Private, Present and Future, the bank looks at the latest developments in the world of digital currencies and payments, arguing that Asia has been at the forefront of the digital payments revolution. In Asia, China makes up 78% of all digital payments transaction value, which, on a global scale, translates to nearly half…

Mastercard and TransferWise have announced an expanded partnership to enable the issuance of cards in any market around the world where Mastercard is accepted and TransferWise is licensed for its multi-currency borderless account. TransferWise has been working with Mastercard since the issuance of its first debit card in Europe in 2018. Since then, TransferWise has issued more than 1 million Mastercard cards globally. In Asia Pacific, TransferWise now partners with Mastercard in Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, with Japan due to launch later this year. The expansion of the relationship will allow a route to market in nearly all countries around…

GBG, an identity data intelligence specialist, announced that it has led the US$7 million Series A investment round in CredoLab, a developer of bank-grade digital risk scorecards. Established in Singapore in 2016, CredoLab is said to have approved over US$2 billion in loans by analysing over 1 trillion data points across 21 countries. CredoLab develops digital scorecards for any businesses that needs to make better risk decisions such as banks, lenders, e-commerce, travel, ride hailing, e-wallets, insurance and retail companies. They use an alternative data source such as privacy-consented and permissioned, smartphone and web behavioural data. CredoLab’s artificial intelligence based…